Swing voters the presidential debate forgot: veterans
| Washington
There were no mentions of America鈥檚 veterans during Wednesday night鈥檚 presidential debate, a point that frustrates former US troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
鈥淚t was seriously disappointing,鈥� says Tom Tarantino, a former US Army captain and chief policy director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). 鈥淭his was the debate that was supposed to focus on domestic issues and care for the men and women who had come home from Iraq and Afghanistan 鈥� it just didn鈥檛 seem like a priority.鈥�
This perplexes veterans advocacy groups. 鈥淲e have the ability to swing these elections 鈥� that鈥檚 the biggest secret nobody seems to have keyed in on,鈥� Mr. Tarantino says.
Among IAVA鈥檚 members, 90 percent are registered to vote, roughly 40 percent of whom do not register or identify with any one party. The remaining 60 percent who do are equally split between the Republican and Democratic Parties.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty politically independent, pretty politically savvy 鈥� and we鈥檙e looking for candidates to address the needs that we鈥檙e facing,鈥澛� he says.
And while veterans represent only 6 percent of voters overall, US military bases 鈥� and thus the former fighters themselves 鈥� are concentrated in a number of swing states.
This includes 150,000 veteran voters in Florida, another 150,000 in Virginia, and 60,000 in Ohio, according to IAVA figures.
Their particular concerns include lowering the veteran unemployment rate, protecting veterans鈥� education benefits, improving support for female veterans, and extending critical Veterans Administration services, says Tarantino.
鈥淲ith one veteran committing suicide every 36 hours, a 10.9 percent unemployment rate, and veterans鈥� education under attack from predatory for-profit schools, candidates and policy makers have a moral obligation to care for those who have served our country,鈥� according to the .
The passing references during the debate to the US armed forces 鈥� Mitt Romney said he believes the military 鈥渟hould be second to none,鈥� and President Obama cited the dangers of giving the Pentagon upwards of $2 trillion in money it鈥檚 not requesting 鈥� fell short of the robust debate of veterans issues for which the IAVA and other advocacy organizations had hoped.
鈥淎 passing reference to military spending isn鈥檛 enough,鈥� says Tarantino. 鈥淪aying 鈥業 will support the military,鈥� and 鈥楾hank you for your service鈥� 鈥� while that鈥檚 fine and we appreciate it, we have serious problems,鈥� he adds. 鈥淎nd, so far, we haven鈥檛 been hearing a lot of specifics.鈥�
